The Joy of Love

The danger of individualism

In this segment, we cover paragraph 33 in which Pope Francis speaks of the dangers of “extreme individualism”. Even not-so-extreme individualism can do damage to our marital and family relationships. Without giving up our individual identities, which God gave us when he created each of us to be entirely unique expressions of his own identity, we are called by Christ to “serve one another” and “lay down our lives for others” — as a community.

Reflection Questions:

Describe at least one way that Joseph and Mary showed healthy, holy individualism for the sake of the community of their Holy Family or of the world around them. What does this teach us about the right balance between our individual identities and community life?